Chernobyl and the Power of Myth

A reappraisal of the official Soviet account of the accident is long overdue.

By

Alexander R. Sich

Updated April 20, 2011 12:01 am ET

"Nuclear power stations are like stars that shine all day long. We shall sow them all over the land. They are perfectly safe!" That was the declaration made by M.A. Styrikovich, a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Presidium, in a 1980 magazine article. Such reckless assertions were ubiquitous in the Soviet Union prior to Chernobyl; nuclear safety was subservient to ideology and pride, and to the cult of progress.

I witnessed first-hand Russia's nuclear bravado during a conference at the International Atomic...